Indexing device



May 15, 19203. *i 1,455,2@2

E. P. BULLARD, JR

INDEXING DEVICE Filed April 30 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet l @Rowe/agg IIASSBM 2Sheets-Sheet 2 E. P. BULLARD. JR

INDEXING DEVICE Filed April 30 1920 f. mm, 7W WM E if, uv 3 r MW E N. wfE m M W F m M Il iHUMHHWWHHMHM Mwwvw i| .Ld m. Hdl.\ |M ,i u m A 0IVNMNE A W Mw, Y f// r UQ M anw w w 7V 3 M May 15,r 19123.

Patented May lgZSf ver wir@ fearENroF Imca.

EDWARD-I. .BULLARn JE., 0E BEIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, 'AssIG'Non To THEBULLARD MACHINE TooL Co., or BRIDGEIOET, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORA- 1.T'ICN 0E CONNECTICUT.

INDExING DEvICE.

.Appncation filed April en, Iseo. serial No. 377,910.

To all y Le/tom. it may cof/cem .v'

Be itknown that I; EDWARD P. BULLARD,

' J1 .,'a,citizen olithe UnitedStates, and resi-l A dent of Bridgeport,in the county of F air- 5 `field and State of Connecticut, have inventedcertain new anduseful Improvements i1i Inv dexing Devices, of whichthefollowing `1s a` inventionto'i'mprove u-'po'n'thisv type of ma#specification.

he present Invention relates -toa1 mul- 10. tiple spindle typeof machinetool commer-,

@muy known.' as a Malena-Matic and 4particularlyto that Class of machineshown and' described. in 'my previous -Patent #1,258,089'granted MarchC1918.-

machine includes a rotatable carrier adapted to be successfully rotatedforindexing the Y samewith respect to the baseand aV series of @cuttingtools.' The carrier is provided with. 20 a series of.- rotatable workcarrying tablesx which are adapted 'to r'otatethe'work Carried thereon,when positionedbeneatlr the cutting tools. By the movement of thecarrier the -work tables. are successively moved forvvard from one'station, to .lanothenwhere I v'certain operations upon' the work are.per-v I formed andwherebythe finished piecesare' linallyA brought. backto the-loading station others to be iii-lished. There are 'six rotatableWork .tables iounted the carrier of this type-of@ Ina- .chine, as shownin the'patent, and asnow put upon the market,`. andI the lindexingmechanism is constructed to 4impart to the adapted l for a class ofworky .requiring a iSeries .of five or more .distinctop'erations'and incases Wherebutone o'perator isengaged in runningjhe machine.' Ifind,however, that theA production on .this machinecan be very muchincreasedon'other classes ofwo'rk by "what I `term double indexing and fwhereby the carrier is moved twice or onethird of a rotation'to eachoperation of the l, of a single machine is vpractically doubled.

dexing, .15 This particular type of multiple spindle one instance eachVtable tools operate at every where 'theyl are removed and replaced byinconvenience to the operator'.-

- carrier, six rotary movements to completely and .method of indexingisparticularly Well .where va fewer'number of Cuts are required.

oli' and replacedwith' each operation of the carrier, with the resultthat the production It isth'erefore'th'e purpose o'f'my present.

chine by providing jmeans whereby the car-v operator vit may be.changed'to' doublein operations, and three double movements to a completerotation. This means that inv will move from one operatingV station to'the next with each makingtwo .movements .between movement of thecarrier, and each' of the live cuttingtools willoperate upon the workmounted lupon 'each of the lfive tables when moved. and positioned'under said cutting tools, whereasin 'theother case whilethe station thetables stop at everyyother. station. I accomplish the above .objects ina simple and 'practicalmanner and 'so that the accurate working qual-A.-further rfeature of the invention ,is to4 ing from. single todoublefindexi-ng, and'vice versa, may be accomplished ina comparativelyshort'length ofv time and with little To `this land other ends, myinventionl resides and conslsts'in tool Indexing mecha ities of themachine will not be.v impaired :provide means whereby the manipulatibnof i themac'hine made necessary bythe chang# nism fora multiple's'pindlemachine, to-

gether with. other associated features' and combinations o f parts as.will be' hereinafter described and 'more particularlypointedout A inthe claims,'an'd"upon'which Fig. 1 shows' vertical Icross section.-through amultiple spindle machine tool off.

the 'Mult-Au-Matic type beforementioned and to which I have applied mynovel mechanism for either single ordouble inf dexing. l Fig. 2 showsanenlarged vertical' cross Asection of the novel parts of the' machine`shown in Fig. l, whereby the carrier of the machine may be made to,index singleior double as stated, and work table andrtool-headsinsteadof one- YFig. 3-shows a detail-vertical ycross sectional viewtake'n at a right angle to Fig-.2 better to illustrate the connection ofthe sli -gear vwith its operating rod.

eferring in detail to the characters of reference markeduponthedrawings, 5v represents a base having an annular track 6h in which-isformed a raceway tocontain a seriesof balls whichform bearings for theof rest. These spindles are each operatedl .rotatable carrier 7 mountedto turn 'upon the base and around the column 8 which forms a` centralsupport for the mechanism.

including the tool slides and the feed-works mountedin the upper part.of the machine.

vThe carrier comprises an annular framein which is 'mounted a series of,preferably 6, vertical spindles'icarrying theworktable 10 ontheir upperend, eachl provided with a gear 11 on their lower end portions, by'means of which the tables are driven when the carrier is stationed= at aposition through separate slip-gears 12 mounted on i the verticalshaft'sl13 connected with and driven by the respective feed ,works 14contion of rest and remains idle during the in.-k

tained within the upper, enclosure' 15 Aof the machine. The five sets offeed works also serve to voperate. the five tool slides 16 to which isAimparted lboth, vertical and horizontal movements to feed .the cutterscarried in the tool heads thereon, in a manner to operate upon the workchucked' on the work-tables lwhen Arotatably positioned beneath thetool-slides.

In practice these worktables are designed to rotate only when thecarriery is lat a posidexing operations which rotate the carrier to movethe table from one workV station to another. A

This indexing operation of the carrier 1s performed in the presentinstance by an 1n dexing arm 17 which is ivotekdly hung upon a crank arm18 journa led in thefbase and provided with gear connections 19`wher'ebythe crank shaft and its indexing arm are operated from. the central mainshaft 20. lhe inner end 'of the indexing arm is guided .in itsreciprocatory movements by a shoe 21 that is pivotally' mounted in asocket. 22

formed beneath and in ali nment with 'the' said main shaft. The actlontherefore of the indexing arm, when the main shaft is operated, istooscillate and-swing out and forward to successively engage the projectedlower ends 23 -of -the spindles 9 1n a way to move the same togetherwith the tables and carrier forward aA predetermined distance. y

U The main shaft as well as the other operative parts of the machine mayderive their power from the motor 24'pos1tioned on the top of themachine, and geared in a manner not' shown to operate the driving shaft25 u on which the'clutch' member 26 is slida ly mounted, or the shaft 25may be driven 'and a rocker shaft 30 having an outwardly through bevelgears, shaft and driving pul- -ley shown mounted `thereon. This upperclutch member is4 provided with operating means whereby it .may be'madeto engage and disengage the lower clutch member 27 on the dri-ven shaft28 .for the purpose of operating the machine. v'The .operating means'forthese clutches include -an arm 29 extended arm 31 which is connected tobe operated by an `annular ring .32 adapted-to slide backward andforward in a way to .rock the shaft and slide the clutch member 26 upand down upon-the driving shaft. The lower` shaft 28 carries a gear 33connected t'o' operate the gear 34 and through 4it lpower'isdistributedi tothe series of five sets of feed works14 mounted in theupper compartment of the machine. This large gear 34 is mounted upon'the bearing 36 secured to theplate`37 secured upon the upper end portionof the column 8l This bearing .36 is provided with a central bore inwhich an upper central hollow shaft 38 is journalled in alignmentxwiththev before mentioned central shaft 20, that serves to operate thecarrier, through `the controller drum 48 and the feeding works as willagain be referred to. The shaft 20 is driven from the shaft 28 throughgear connections 39 with shaft 40, and gear connections 41 with shaft42, geared to drive the gear clutch member v43 loose upon the shaft 20,.yThe-controller 44 splined to the shaft 20is provided with clutchconnections 45 forengagement with the member 43 so-that the saidcontroller 44 and theshaft may be made to turn with the driven member 43as is" desired forthe Each set purpose of indexin the carrier. offeed-works inclu es a depending shaft 46 which is operated at -certainintervals, and carries an arm 47 .to engage` lugs on the controller drum44, in a way to engage and disengage vthe drum with the *gear clutch.

member'434 so as to operatively engage and disengage with the shaft 20for-fthe purpose ofoperating the tables and tool-slides.

The `two central shafts 38 and 20, 'as be-l stopping of the rotarymovement o the` lower shaft and its carrier.

In this respect it might be borne in mind i that when the carrier comesto a position of rest and. the work-tablesv begin to rotate,

the .several feed-works. .operate to: simul'' taneously start allgthefeed yslides down.-

' member 4:4. `Wh`envthe vindexing is completed the .feed-.works willagain promptly.

Vstart to` feed all the tool-slides down simule taneously as abovementioned. l

The operative connection .for 'this last .men-V tioned feeding movementof the feed-slides ismade with the upper controller drum48 -mountedon'the upper end of the s'ha'ft 38. Said lcontroller drum carries aseries of lugs,

positionedfto engageftheA arms 49 extended -from j the clutch mechanismof the feedworks, wherebyl the saidv clutches are engaged to start thefeed-worksg/tool-slides and tables;

The particularv formof driving-connection employed y.fori coupling the.upper shaft 38 vmountedupon theysaid upper 'shaft 38, A.- pin 53 securedin theslidableclut'ch gear '52 pinnedto the shafty20, la clutchl gear51, a slidable clutch gear 5,2 keyed to land movably extends through theslotslA in the hollow -shaft so as to becarried therewith, yet itispfree to move longitudinally thereon. This pin'is further'secured toanoperating rod55 slidably mountedin the hollow shaft 38 and j isprovidedrwith a handle-56 ,upon its. projected upper end whereby it maybe engaged and moved longitudinally within` the hollow' shaft. 1 By thismeans the'A clutch 'gear upon Y.

the lhollow shaft may be madetoengage the clutch face Aof the clutchgear 1 for direct tion. Thispinion 57 is cut on one end of a- 'dri-vingas indicated. byA dottedlines in Fig.y

2,- or the gear may be engaged with. the pinion 57 on the. stud 58 forindirect operasleeve .that also includes .a larger pinion 59 thatmesheswith the before-mentionedclutch gear 51. The size of the gear drive a'sshownl in Fig. 2 is such as to'insure theturning'of 4nection'irrespective-of the pinbefore men- 'tioned' The upper end' of the sliderod 55 the shafts, two to one,'with respect to each other..` Theslidable clutch'gear 52 is provided with a key that slides in a keywayof Vthe shaft 38 so-as to insure an operative conis providedl with pinholes. 60 to receive .the pin 6l removably mountedin the upperuend ofVthe hollowshaft 38and'the slide rod so' as to hold the slide rod andits-gear .52 in either an upper or lower position. 'lhis handle portionofthe slide rod is positioned in the chamber .15 of the-machine, whereitcanv readily be gotten at, by sliding back one of theseveral sideplates 62 enclosing 'the said compartment. By this means the'machine'may be readilyset for the purposes before mentionednamely for eithersingle or double indexing, and maybe accomplishedl .with

comparatively few additional parts which are well designed andconstructed to insure perfect and reliable operations.

Having. thus described my inventiomwhat Igclaim and desireto secure byLetters Patent,

land* work tables, and operative connections between said indexing meansand said operating means forindexing the carrier'and se lective meanswhereby the indexing means is operated through I`one or a-'plurality ofcycles to indexI the carrier through different dis-Y tances withrelation tjo each'operation of the l tool heads and tables. A tothelower shaft 20, includesacoupling 50 v 2. A multiple spindle machine,comprising' a rotatable carrier, afseries of rotary work ltables mountedin the carrier, a series of tool heads positioned above the o erativestations ofthe work tables, means or indexing the lcarrierto move the'tables from one seriesv of work stations to another series, means foroperating the ltool heads.A and work tables, and an adjustableconnection between said lindexing means and-operating means, where' bythe indexing-means may be operated once or a plurality of times withrelation to each "operation of the to'ol heads and tables.

-work tables, meansfor operating the 'tool Aheads and tables, andselective devices for :It different times. operating said indexingvmeans and said operating means at different relative speeds to movethecarri'er different predetermined distances with relation to eachoperation' of the tool heads and tables.

4. A multiple spindle machine, comprising a rotatable carrier, ashaftfor-operating-the indexine means, indexing means adapted torotate-the carrier a given distance, a series of rotary work tablesmounted in the carrier a series -of tool heads positioned above theoperative stations for the work tables, a shaft for operating the toolheads and.' tables,

operated at different relative speeds for operating the indexing meansonce or a plurality leach operation of.

a rotatable carrier, a series of rotary. worli tables niountedin thecarrier, a series of toolmeans for operating the two shafts, and meanswhereby'theindexing shaft may be headspositioned above the loperativestations of the Work tables, indexing means adapted to rotate'thecarrier a iven'distance, shaft; vfor operating thein exing means inalignment With the indexing shaf a shaft t for operating the tool-headsandtables', means connecting the ends of the shafts to operate them atthe same speed, and means for-connecting the shafts to `operate' atdifferent reladriven'from the other at a different relative.

speed.

tive speeds for the purpose of moving the carrier greater distancesbetween the operations ofthe tool-heads and tables. 6. A multiplespindle machine, comprising a rotatable carrier, a series of rotaryWorkitables mountedin the carrier, a series of toolheads positionedabove the operative stations of the Work tables, indexing means adaptedto' rotate thefc-arrier a given distance, 'a shaft for operating -theindexing means. a shaft in alignment with the indexing shaft .foroperating the tool-heads and tables, 'aclutch for directly,connectingtlie shafts, andre during-gears through which one shaft is f7. Amultiple spindle machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier, a series ofrotary work tablesmounted in the carrier, a series of tool- Y headspositioned above the operative stations of the work' tables,indexingmeans adapted to rotate the carrier agiven distance, a shaft inalignment with the carrier shaft for operati'n'g the tool-heads andtables, a, shaft for 0 erati'ngl the indexing means, 'a clutch fordlre'ctly connecting the shafts, idle gears connected With a Agear fixedto one of the shafts,

and a slide gear upon the other shaft -for con'.- Y

adapted to ,rotateI the carrier a`given distance, a shaft for operatingthe indexing means a shaftin alignment with the carrier shaft foroperating the tool-heads andatables, a`clutch for connecting the' tWoshafts, gears for connecting the two shafts to operate at a differentrelative speed, and a combined gear.

and clutch member slidably mounted onone shaft for making either of saidconnections. S' ned at Bridgeport, in the' county of lFair eld and Stateof Connecticut, this i28th. day of April, A. D. 1920.

l EDWARD P. BULLARD, JR. Witnesses:

-F J LYNCH,

JOHN E. Correa.

